On another thread p dog shooter was stating that he was experiencing large variances in pressure from one lot of WCC846 to another.

Has anyone else noticed any peculiarity with this powder?

In rifles like the 22-250,257 Roberts .270 and others the accuracy seems good. We notice ,however, that there is generally a loud Kaaboooom and a large blaze of flame eminating from the barrel. This has been just a little peculiar and worrysome to me. Any additional feed back will be appriciated. roger

Hello,
Because this powder, WC846/military surplus, is less expensive, a lot of match shooters using AR15's, 223 use it and rarely hear of comlaints other than it being somewhat "dirty" compared to other powders. Those active will purchase in 8 lb jugs and go through some 2 jugs or more per season. (Est. useage rate is 300 rounds per pound.) Again, not heard of any problems, but that is just with these set of shooters. All in all, for the price, most like the powder.

I've used it for several years, in a variety of calibers with no problems. It does produce a muzzle blast/flash that is definitely more pronounced than most of the commercial powders but that is not an issue to me, just an observation.

Roger , a few years ago it was determined that there was two diffrent lots of wc846 one was little faster than the other.
i have done a lot of work with the 308.
I found with the lot i used that it was more like h335 than blc-2.
I used 40/41 grs with a 165gr bullet and velocities were avg. 2540f/s with an extreme spread less than 15f/s
I tried some 155gr sierras and found that the muzzle flash and blast was terrible.
The 155's grouped around 1/2"
If you use this powder start about 15% low and work up. I would use the load data with the fastest powder until i determined which lot I had.
Dave

The lot that I have is 49845. to use this lot safely I have to go down at least 30% from the lowest recommened load.

I do not use a lot of wcc846 I use way more wcc844 I just found that 844 works better for me and I haven't had any pressure trouble with that. But did blow a primer with 846 in 308 and have shown pressure signs in 223 with it.

I still load some with 846 but I start out way low.

There are three of us that bought about 48 pounds when it was selling for $48.00 for 8 lbs.My one cousin uses it far more than I do. He gets great accuracy with it and for the price can put up with the noise , muzzle flash and extra rifle cleaning.

FYI-There was another mal performance that occurred in my .358 X .404 IMP.and that was a lot of hang fires. Got the same result with Wcc844. Going to magnum primers in this case DID NOT get rid of the problem totally. roger

Roger I've been using the WC846 for about five years now. The pull down powder that I have purchased seems to have a little larger variances than the virgin powder.

As for burning clean it seems the hotter you load it the cleaner it burns. My best accuracy seems to come about .5 gr from max with the lot I have now and that's pushing a 50 gr. V-Max just a hair over 3400 fps.

I have some loads that have achieved some pretty astonishing accuracy. Using several bullets like V-Max, Blitzking, TNT and a few others.

In my .223 in the cold I've never had a hang fire. In blazing heat in Montana on PD hunts it has never had pressure problems. We've been shooting right up to one hundred degrees. I always use Federal 205 match primers.

When it comes to cleaning it usually happens at about 40 rounds or so. I've shot lots of other powders that are non-ball that seem to be just as dirty.

But I don't think it's going to be a problem much longer it looks like the WC846 is drying up.

started reading this thread ans it reinforced my "only use virgin powder" stance

sorry, i burn alot of wc852 slow and wc844 .. both virgin powders.

Bartsche,

I've used 846 in the 243 and 25 Souper with 75-87gr. bullets, great accuarcy and good volocity. Also have a great load with 165s in 30/06. Velocity is right at 2700fps. Any more and cases get sticky.

Two questions:
1) I thought all wc846 was reclaimed, never heard of any new 846?
2) I see you live in Temple City , Calif. Is the range at Fish Canyon still going and have you ever shot there? Pete

Pedro

A lot of WC846 is pull down. But I have over the years gotten new powder from dealers.

At one time Jeff Barlett used to have both on his site. The pull down was $8 cheaper for 8 pounds. Now he's selling the pull down only for more than I paid for the new.

Bartsche,

Sorry to that about the old range. My dad and uncle started me on the road as a certified "gun nut" at that old range. Many fine memories from there back in the 60's.

Pete